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Episode 1801 - Rookies vs. Veterans
The first episode of Season 18 of Hell's Kitchen aired on Fox, on September 28, 2018. On that episode, eight newcomers and eight returning chefs arrived at Hell's Kitchen, the Signature Dish Challenge ended in a close race, and two chefs started to get on each other’s nerves. Intro The episode began with a recap of the previous 17 seasons, before showing a teaser of that season’s events, with the narrator saying that eight returning chefs would face up against eight of the most talented newcomers in the culinary industry. Two buses arrived at Hell’s Kitchen, with Marino waiting for them at the front entrance, and welcomed them to the restaurant before escorting them inside. Kanae said that she had a hard life growing up in south central, but knew that her parents had her back, and that she wanted to make them proud. In the restaurant, Sous Chefs Christina and Jocky introduced themselves, and told them that they were preparing them a butternut squash risotto from the menu for lunch. However, the eight rookies from the red team had no idea that the eight from the blue team were the veterans in disguise as Trev, disguised as “Aaron”, knew the expectations of the competition, while the rookies did not. Chris complimented “Aaron’s” mustache, while Mia called the eight across from her ugly. Soon after, the chefs received their lunch, and very much enjoyed it. But, when Gizzy felt that it could use some more salt, Ariel, disguised as “Maria”, felt that the former’s strong presence out of the gate was not a strong move. After, Ramsay revealed himself from his office, and revealed that the winner of that season would become the Executive Chef at Hell’s Kitchen at Caesar’s Palace, which Scotley said that Las Vegas defines what he likes, food, sex, and booze. After, Ramsay asked the red team to introduce themselves, and Motto reveals that he has been the Executive Chef at a French-Creo restaurant for five years despite not going to culinary school, and was not intimidated by his competition. Gizzy was next, but everybody had trouble pronouncing her name, and was confident that she could win. When Scotley was next to describe himself, he revealed that he and Gizzy worked with each other before, and that he took over her position when she left, though Gizzy claimed that people from that job missed her. When Chris stood up, Ramsay poked fun over his small stature, and after Kanae and Jose explained their credentials, Ariel was impressed by their resumes, and felt that there was going to be a strong competition. After, Scott revealed that he already owned his own restaurant, with Ramsay asking what the fuck he was doing here, and the former listed off a lot of employers he worked with in the past, boring everybody in the process. Mia was the final person from the red team to describe herself, revealed that she was originally from Puerto Rico, and felt that while people were going to underestimate her by her looks, she declared that she was going to kick ass. After, it was the blue team’s turn to introduce themselves, with “Maria” explaining how she was the Executive Chef overseeing multiple restaurants. However, Ariel decided to drop the act, and took her disguise off, shocking the rookies. Ramsay explained that he personally invited Ariel back into the competition as he felt she deserved another chance, and she revealed that she pushed herself after competing 10 years ago. Then, Ariel said that people believed that she was eliminated due to a lack of confidence, recalling a moment back in Season 6 where Ramsay berated her for sending up poor lamb during the second black jackets service, but knew that she had everything it took to win. Jen was the next veteran to reveal herself, and told Ramsay that she had dropped her attitude since Season 4, recalling a moment during that season where Ramsay chewed her out for her attitude during the seventh dinner service. Heather was the third veteran to reveal herself, explained that she was the runner-up back in Season 16 where she lost to Ryan in the finals, and Ramsay reminded Heather on how close she was. While the rookies were getting the message on what was happening, Gizzy was not intimidated by the veterans, believed that they were has-beens, and that their food would be outdated. Kevin was the fourth veteran to reveal himself, followed by Trev and T, and Chris was weirded out by them picking off their disguises. Bret was the seventh veteran to reveal himself, and after, Ramsay asked him how his back was, recalling how he was forced to leave Season 14 due to a slipped disc. Bret told Ramsay that his back was better, and called his departure disgusting. Roe was the final veteran to reveal herself, and commented how difficult it was not winning Season 13, before recalling moments on her season where she was inconsistent, and warned the rookies, referring to them as Bambi’s, that they had no idea what they were in for. After that, Ramsay revealed that for the first time ever, it was Rookies vs. Veterans, but Mia was not nervous as she was competing against losers and not winners as she feared before. Then, Ramsay told both teams to line up behind their domes in their kitchens, and while T knew that rookies were only a name, she also knew that if they could not work the line, then they deserved to go home. Signature Dish Challenge Before the challenge began, Ramsay asked Scotley what his signature dish would be, and the latter explained that he was making a pan seared snapper with a coconut curry sauce based on his Jamaican background. Then, Jen revealed that she would be making a Thai curry king crab leg with sticky rice and a banana leaf, but Ramsay took notice of her custom chef jacket. When Jen offered one to Ramsay, he said that he will call her up the next time he was visiting the jungle. After, Ramsay told both teams to lift their domes, but while the rookies received their ingredients, the veterans had nothing under their domes, much to their confusion. After, Ramsay told the veterans that instead of cooking their own signature dishes, they would instead be cooking the rookie’s signature dishes. To start off, Ramsay decided to bring up Scotley’s dish first, and Trev volunteered to face off against the latter. Then, Gizzy explained that her dish was seared scallops with a cucumber gazpacho, and wanted to compete against Heather, with the latter complementing the set of balls Gizzy had before accepting her challenge. Kanae revealed her Louisiana styled fish stew with plantains, but none of the veterans were interested in the dish, until Kevin volunteered. When Ramsay commented to Kevin that he loved a challenge, the latter recalled how he twisted his ankles back in Season 6, along with losing to Dave in the finals, before commenting that he had a chip he could not get rid of for ten years. After, Scott explained his roasted black bass over root vegetables, and while Roe commented that his dish was not what she wanted, she volunteered as she wanted to beat Scott after his intro earlier. Chris revealed his duck breast with a mango-blackberry puree which Bret took, Motto revealed his barbecue shrimp and grits which T took, and Jose revealed his pan-seared scallops with parsnip which Ariel took. Then, Mia revealed her grilled pork tenderloin with chorizo chimichurri, and Jen automatically received it as she was the only veteran left. While Mia was confident she could take down Jen, the latter did not believe so. Both teams had 45 minutes to cook their dishes, and Bret and Trev complained how they were looking forward to making their original signature dishes. While the red team was working confidently in the red kitchen, Sous Chef Jocky asked Heather how it felt to be back, with the latter commenting that it was almost like she never left. Then, Heather said that she felt confident cooking Gizzy’s dish, but if she could not cook scallops by now, there was no reason for her to be back, before warning Gizzy that she was going to make her dish ten times better. 30 minutes left, Sous Chef Christina noticed a lot of ingredients near Mia’s station, and she explained that her signature dish would reflect her upbringing based from her grandmother. Six minutes left, Kevin commented that everything from his previous season was coming back to him, and when there were 90 seconds left, Jen discovered that her pork was overcooked, and was forced to plate it no matter what. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time. Before tasting their dishes, Ramsay revealed that he would be judging each dish on a scale of 1-5, and the team with the most points at the end would win. On the first round, T and Motto were up with their shrimp and grits, and before tasting her dish, Ramsay recalled how T was one of the most competitive chefs he had ever worked with, with some clips of Season 14 backing up his claim. After, T said that she still had the passion, but had some determination along with it. After, T’s shrimp and grits with Worchester and beer to the sauce was judged, and Ramsay had Motto taste it with him. However, while Motto claimed that the sauce was bland, Ramsay disagreed and felt that it tasted delicious. However, the shrimps were criticized for being overcooked, and T scored 3 points. Then, Motto’s shrimp and grits with Louisiana barbecue sauce were praised for the shrimps being beautiful along with the sauce, but T and Ramsay agreed that the grits needed salt. So, Motto scored 3 points, and the score was a 3-point tie. On the fish stew round, Kanae wanted to see how badass Kevin was with ingredients that were not his, and presented her coconut broth fish stew with mashed plantain. However, Ramsay was disgusted with the plantain’s presentation, comparing it to a camel’s turd, and Kanae scored 3 points. After, Kevin presented his chowder version of a fish stew, and Trev commented how scared he was of the former as he knew how cutthroat Kevin was, before warning the others to fear him as well. After, Ramsay awarded Kevin with the first perfect 5, and the score was 8-6 for the veterans. On the herbed crusted black bass round, Roe’s dish received 3 points as her black bass was scorched, while Scott’s dish was also overcooked, and Ramsay commented that the latter’s restaurant was closed now. So, Scott scored 2 points, and the score was 11-8 for the veterans. On the duck breast round, Chris’s duck breast with mango-blackberry puree scored 4 points for nailing the duck, but Bret also scored 4 points for nailing the duck as well, leaving the score 15-12 for the blue team. On the scallops with parsnip round, Ariel’s dish was praised for having a rich puree and received four points, while Jose’s dish also scored 4 points for having a delicious puree, and the score was 19-16 for the veterans. On the snapper round, Scotley presented his pan-seared snapper with jasmine rice and coconut curry. Before tasting his dish, Ramsay asked Scotley what his claim to fame was, and the latter said that he was voted the hottest chefs in Atlanta overall, which T sarcastically congratulated him for, and Roe reminded Scotley that it was not a beauty contest. After, Scotley’s dish was praised for having an on-point seasoning, but criticized for having a slightly scorched fish, and he scored 3 points. Before tasting Trev’s dish, Ramsay recalled how the former was picked on a lot during Season 8, and Trev remembered that he got yelled at by everybody but Ramsay, before hoping that he received the respect from his teammates that season. Then, Trev’s curry dusted snapper was praised for the fish being delicious, but Ramsay commented that the lemon twist reminded him of his grandfather’s 90th birthday party. So, Trev scored three points, and the score was 22-19 for the veterans, but Trev argued that his dish was slightly better than a 3. On the grilled pork loin, Jen was nervous as she wanted to make a dish that Ramsay would not spit out, and hoped for the best. Jen’s grilled pork loin with potato puree was criticized for looking ragged and dry, and she scored 2 points, which Bret deemed unacceptable. After, Mia’s grilled pork loin medallion with chorizo chimichurri was praised for having a perfect cook as all her pork had a bit of pink in the center, she scored a perfect 5, and the score was tied at 24 each. After, Mia commented that if she was underestimated before, then the chefs knew that she was a force to be reckoned with now. On the final round, Heather warned Gizzy that she was here to win, and that nobody was going to stop her from opening the door again. Before tasting her dish, Ramsay asked Heather if she and Andrew were still dating, referring to the affair the two had back in Season 16, but she revealed that they were no longer on speaking terms. After, Gizzy’s dish was praised for tasting delicious, but Ramsay decided not to score it just yet as he wanted to taste both dishes. Then, Heather’s dish was praised for being delicious, sent them back in line, and gave the two each perfect 5’s, tying the score at 29 each. To break the tie, Ramsay called up Kevin and Mia as the best dishes of their teams, and tasted them again. After a tough decision, Ramsay deemed Mia’s dish as the one that had the slight edge, and the rookies won the challenge. While Mia was doing a happy dance to celebrate, Kevin was disappointed that the veterans lost the first challenge. Reward The rookies were rewarded with dinner at Josiah Citrin’s Charcoal, with Ramsay joining them along with Citrin. While being dismissed to the dorms, Scotley believed that they took a piece of the veteran’s heart by winning the challenge. During the reward, Ramsay introduced them to Citrin, Mia was smiling over sitting next to him, and Jose said that he would never forget that dinner. After Citrin told the red team to keep their eye on the prize, Kanae stated that she had a tough upbringing as she grew up in an area with Gang Bangers. Punishment The veterans were punished by prepping both kitchens for the following service, shelling sunflower seeds, and prepping the mushroom duxelles. While being dismissed to the dorms, Bret blamed Jen for costing them the challenge as she was the only veteran that scored a two, but she deemed Bret a handful as the two bickered over the results. During the punishment, T called it the longest punishment she had ever done, and Kevin and Roe felt that they were cleaning mushrooms for a long time, before the latter complained that she was going to be washing mushroom gunk off her fingers. Then, Sous Chef Jocky caught Jen pureeing the mushrooms without washing them, but while she arrogantly felt that there was no problem doing that, Bret said that washing mushrooms were not a difficult chore to do. When Jen complained that her teammates were getting on her nerves, Sous Chef Jocky overheard her, and annoyed Trev told her to get the fuck out of the competition if she could not hang with them. When Sous Chef Jocky asked Jen to repeat her complaints, she refused to, and left for a little bit, with Sous Chef Jocky commenting that it was going to be a fun few weeks. Later that night, Trev said that he wanted to turn the tide and make it about the All-Stars and not the rookies, while Bret knew that the latter’s were going to come back from their reward excited, before he and T mocked them cheering. Then, the veterans agreed that the results would have been different if they made their signature dishes, but Jen was annoyed by Bret’s attitude, and called his boastfulness a distraction. Individual challenge Later, the rookies came back from their reward, and when they came back to the dorms, they found their knife kits waiting for them, and Kanae called her Henkel knives amazing. Later that night, Jen noticed that Bret had a Hell’s Kitchen tattoo on his arm, and despite her annoyance of the latter, she decided to try and get along with it. When Jen asked him about the garlic and asparagus tattoos, Bret explained that they were in remembrance of his parents as they passed away five months apart in the past year, and deemed them his major inspiration for his passion. After Bret left for bed, Jen wondered what she got herself into. The next day, Ramsay called the dorms, and told Kevin to bring everybody downstairs. As they came downstairs, the chefs heard bagpipes, with T hoping that they were not catering for a funeral, and Heather asking who died. Then, Ramsay said that they were about to say goodbye to someone near and dear to them, and the episode ended as a cliffhanger. Category:Rookies Vs Veterans Category:Episodes